Category Archives: Grand Jury Resisters

On Tuesday, January 28th, anarchist grand jury resister Gerald “Jerry” Koch was released from the federal Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan. Koch’s release comes over eight months after his imprisonment for refusing to testify before a grand jury convened under the auspices of investigating the so-called bicycle bomber case.

Judge John Keenan, the presiding judge over Jerry’s case, believes that taking the position of a government run amok, using grand juries as a witch hunt is, “a delusion of grandeur.” Judge Keenan goes on:

There is simply no evidence that the Government [sic], threatened by Koch’s subversive prowess, seeks to bring him before the grand jury on a pretext, either to gain access to the treasure trove that is his circle of friends or to send an ominous message to political dissidents.

In reality, the United States government was following a pattern of using grand juries as fishing expeditions in hopes of better understanding social and political networks of anarchists. This tactic has been recently seen in the Pacific Northwest and in California. Regardless, Jerry’s release does not come as a result of some hacky judge “seeing the light” and letting the barred door swing wide. It comes due to the diligence of his legal support in filing a strong Grumbles motion. Also from the judge’s decision:

Koch’s argument is straightforward. Because he continues to oppose the government in general and the grand jury process in particular, he urges that continued confinement will not induce him to testify. Indeed, he asserts that his tenure at the MCC has caused his views about government repression to congeal even further.

Imprisonment for civil contempt in order to coerce someone to testify is, according to the state, not supposed to be punitive. When it becomes punitive and loses any coercive power, the individual must be released (or so goes the argument). The content of the motion filed by Jerry’s legal support argues that the function of Jerry’s imprisonment—to coerce him to testify before the grand jury, was failing and in fact had become merely punitive. Based on the above quote, judge Keenan agreed. And this is the basis of the judge’s decision to release Jerry.

Judge Keenan’s decision also reveals the importance of outside support. Articles written about Jerry, letters written on his behalf, and even an online petition cumulatively added to the strength of the motion filed on his behalf. Strong solidarity from family and friends positively contributed to Jerry’s release.

In reading Judge Keenan’s decision, it is clear that the only joy he is able to squeeze out of his miserable life is in sophomoric barbs launched at Jerry and anarchists in general. And at the end of the day, none of the judge’s childish insults matter. What matters is that we have our comrade returned to us, unbroken.

Again in the words of Judge Keenan, Jerry “has chosen to remain in contempt– indeed he promises continued and endless contempt.” And for that, we applaud you, Jerry. Welcome home.

In late July of 2012, our friend Steve received a phone call from a man identifying himself as a FBI agent. He was told that a subpoena had been issued for him to appear before a federal Grand Jury investigating the vandalism of the Kenzo Nakamura Court of Appeals*. This phone call happened in conjunction with three other people being served subpoenas in Olympia and Portland, as well as house raids in Portland. Although Steve is a known anarchist in the Northwest, who has been subjected to state harassment before, up until this moment he has not been served or indicated as a suspect of the ongoing Grand Jury investigation targeting anarchists.

His life has been severely impacted by the course of events. He has made the choice to leave his former life behind in order to resist the Grand Jury on his own terms. This means that Steve has gone without face-to-face contact with his family, friends, and loved ones for many months.

The investigation and subsequent repression is still very much alive even though former prisoners, Maddy, Matt and Kteeo are now out of prison. The potential for criminal indictments remains a real possibility. Also, the effects of imprisonment and future threats of going back to prison, which could happen if any of the three are charged with criminal contempt, are not something that ends once one has left the prison walls behind.

While Steve has been doing his best to adjust to life in a new place, it has not been an easy transition. He is in a really rough spot right now, being thousands of miles away from his home and not knowing when he will be able to return. He has already been physically and verbally harassed by the state forces in his new location, and is having a hard time finding employment due to not having status and language barriers. At the same time, he has been doing his best to keep his spirits high and is grateful for all the support and solidarity he has received so far, and for the new friends he has made. The fact remains that life inside capitalist society is expensive, and at this point he has no income whatsoever. Please consider donating to Steve so he can take care of his rent, bills, transportation costs, and everything else this life forces us to pay for. As little or much as you can, anything helps.

*It is important to note that Steve stands in solidarity and complicity with all those accused of damaging the Kenzo Nakamura Court House.

Hello friends! I know there have been several posts already pertaining to black bloc styled tactics, but I’d thought I’d throw out some friendly words of advise. When blocing up or deblocing in a huddle I’d suggest using something to cover the top of the huddle.

You can also get snatched if you’re walking alone in bloc and I’ve seen people get conspiracy charges, but this doesn’t happen often due to political fallout.

Another pressing issue I’d like to address is the use of bandannas. Of course achieve complete anonymity is virtually impossible, but a bandanna alone certainly will not do what a lot of people think it will. Especially if you take it off at any point during the day in plane sight.

Let’s say your at an action and your wearing a bandanna and some nondescript clothes. That’s all fine and dandy, but then let’s say you want to do some smashy smashy and then let’s say earlier you had taken the bandanna off to drink water or something. Maybe you didn’t see the camera filming you when you chugged that mountain dew with your bandanna off, but the camera got a glimpse of your face none the less. Hell, this might not even be that big of a deal as long as you get rid of the clothes you were wearing that day and change your hair up a bit. If you find yourself in this situation don’t freak out. Alter your appearance a bit(or don’t if you don’t look like Sid Vicious or something), or if you live somewhere out of the jurisdiction of the department investigating you could be fine if you cover your bases and aren’t in any news stories and don’t have your picture on some radical website or whatever.

For my standards a bandanna alone doesn’t cut it, but maybe a bandanna and a hoodie with an underlayer of clothes does. Honestly there’s a lot you can do to make it way harder for the authorities to figure out who the fuck you are, but don’t over or under estimate them. Play it a bit safe, but if you’ve already fucked up don’t over stress it, just be mindful of it and take some precautions.

Some people can pull off a hat and sunglasses some people can’t especially in a street battle or smashy smashy scenario. Remember the authorities go after the easy targets or the targets that have the most potential to increase rupture, but they also don’t want to arrest loads of anarchists and the like due to the inevitable ruptures that would happen within the prisons. However we are supposedly a leaderless resistance, so more often than not they’ll just go after the easy targets. So don’t be an easy target. Most importantly though, be in solidarity with those who do fuck up. We’ve all fucked up, there is no perfect way to do shit. I’ve seen people in the best blocing conditions get fucked later for bullshit and I’ve seen people without even a hat on their head nor a piece of black clothing dearrest people without the slightest slap on the wrist.

What are some more tips…hmm…that foam cushion stuff on ski-goggles melts when it comes into contact with pepper-spray…the only constant in life is change…dresses fit under most outfits…plywood, rope, and soft cushion type materials make good shields…phalanxes and the like are more easily broken when you surround them or come at them from behind…move like water…people are usually scared of fire…we can do so many things our enemies can’t and we will always have a leg up on them tactically and strategically speaking if not materially speaking…smoke blocks teargas…things are harder to move when they’re on fire…news crews are just cops with cameras…looting is fun…build attack communes…organize the alcoholics…t-shirts make great masks…stacked newspaper boxes are harder to move…you don’t need a march to have a bloc party…DGR is basically a green RCP…the violent revolt of oppressed people is always in the category of self defense, but that does not mean it cannot take offensive forms…use startpage to look up shit on the internet…shattered storefront windows make for better doors than that storefront doors, but storefront doors are more expensive…you can be a source of inspiration…there is no after the revolution…

In late July of 2012 our friend Steve received a phone call from a man identifying himself as a FBI agent. He was told that a subpoena had been issued for him to appear before a federal Grand Jury investigating the vandalism of the Kenzo Nakamura Court of Appeals*. This phone call happened in conjunction with three other people being served subpoenas in Olympia and Portland, as well as house raids in Portland. Although Steve is a well known anarchist in the Northwest, who has been subjected to state harassment before, up until this moment he has not been served or indicated as a suspect of the ongoing investigation against anarchists.

However, his life has been severely impacted by the course of events. Hehas made the choice to leave his former life behind in order to reject the Grand Jury on his own terms. This means that Steve has gone without face-to-face contact with his family, friends, and loved ones for many months.